In less than a century, NYC has transformed from a humble melting pot to a towering metropolis at the center of the world. These incredible photographs showcase how it came to be…

Men cut ice from Kissena Lake in Queens, ca. 1860-1900

Lady Liberty being assembled in Paris in 1885

Girls hold hands and walk along 42nd Street in the 1890s

Little Italy in 1900

Madison Square ca. 1900

Times Square, 1903

Children, adults, and a herd of sheep visit Central Park ca. 1900

Delancey Street, 1906

Workers dig along Delancey Street, 1908

Painters hang from the wires of the Brooklyn Bridge, 1914

A pyramid of German army helmets outside Grand Central Terminal during World War One

Grand Central ca. 1920

The Lannier Hotel, 1921

Sunbathers swarm on Coney Island, 1922

The New York Fire Department shows off its new steam powered fire engine

Opening Day at Yankee Stadium, 1923

Children play on 50th St., 1924

Workers lay bricks to pave 28th St., 1930

A Brooklyn Hooverville in Red Hook Park during the Great Depression

A crowded market underneath Park Avenue, 1932

The Cathedral of Saint John ca. 1935

Midtown Manhattan ca. 1935

Carnegie Hall ca. 1935

The S.S. Normandie on it’s way to dock ca. 1935

42nd St. with the Chrysler Building in the top right ca. 1935

A man looks over the Hudson from the George Washington bridge, 1936

A woman buys vegetables on Bleeker Street, 1937

The view from the Chanin Building, 1937

An elevated subway tracks, 8th St., Brooklyn, 1938

Downtown, 1944

The outfield at a Yankee’s game ca. 1935

Astoria Public Pool, 1940

Times Square, 1954

A skyjector shines an eye on the side of a building, 1960

Chinatown, 1960

Over 10,000 young couples gather in Central Park for an Easter Love-in, 1961

Police pursue gang members, 1961

Two young women in Central Park, 1961

A window cleaner at work on the RCA Building, 1961

A lifeguard in Steeplechase Park, Coney Island, 1961

World’s Fair in Flushing Meadow, Queens, 1964

Entrance to the Wall Street Stock Exchange, 1964

The 3,000 builders of the Chase Manhattan Bank as they near the end of construction, 1964

The World Trade Centers under construction, ca. 1966 – 1970

The New York subway, 1969

The Bowery, 1970s

Times Square, 1972

Judy Collins plays to a crowd at the Schaefer Bandstand in Central Park, 1973

Midtown congestion, 1973

Bronx, 1973

Harlem, 1973

Brooklyn, 1974

A family walks down 32nd Street, 1981

Subway at rush hour, 1982

Picnic in Central Park, 1984

Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue, 1987

The main concourse of Grand Central Terminal, 1989

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